Booklight12 477 Share Posted July 6, 2022 (edited) A New Journey The halls of House Xor were flushed with activity these past months. Some praise the house and say their rise was a natural consequence of their bloody determination. Some derogate from the praise and claim fear and the insecurity can make saints out of the strongest sinners. One thing is for certain, a bloody coup often lends well for its orchestrators, but only for as long as they can maintain the mantle of their quickly earned power. For now, the people choose House Xor. Horga Xor’s monarchic reign has not been smooth however. Political rivals from once great magic houses, logicians who opposed Xoric policy, and the vocal minorities who denounced the new regime were now hunted on the streets, and backwaters of Ghurim. This maneuver was intended to mimic the scorched earth tactics house Xor used to bade back invading descendant armies. Horga and his advisors thought the few dissenters who remained would have no foundation to channel their opposition, no ground to grow new weeds that could strangle the earth. Only one bastian remained… Outside of the main city of Ghurim, dissenters congregated in the ruins of an ancient elven fortress from a time before. Therein, their Seers scryed the magic laden in the hieroglyphs sprawled across the fortress, and uncovered a prophecy. All things lost are found again… The prophecy describes ancient pacts forged between the elves and a voice which ruled the cosmos. The voice wanted eyes, ears, and means to travel between their mind planes and the mortal realm. In return, the elves were given a seed of magic that assured their prosperity for as long as it was watered. The voice then rested. Some generations later, the elves reneged on their promise to water this seed. In response, the voice wrought destruction upon the lands of Ghurim, pestilence, plague, and complete chaos ravaged the thousands of elves who waited upon the altar of annihilation. Though the waterless seed withered, the voice did not rid the elves of their rite to water it. So, the few remaining who knew of its secrets cast it into the sea. There, the currents carried it to distant shores where it was ultimately buried and forgotten by most. The Bastian falls.. Upon catching whim of the gathering force, House Xor quickly besieged the ancient fortress with trebuchets of alchemist's fire, and ritual circles of evocationists which bombarded the fortress day and night for ten days. Only thanks to the shields of abjurationists were the dissenters able to survive for as long as they did. On the 9th day the dissenters knew they had lost the battle. The abjurationists tasked with defending the fortress were exhausted, many perishing due to the thaumburn incurred from the overuse of magic. Coming to terms with their impending doom, the leaders of the gathering decided to send a group of 5 of their youngest gatherers to deliver the prophecy to the Mother order of the Mages Guild currently based in Almaris. They knew If the prophecy fell into the hands of House Xor, this seed of magic would be coveted by the monarchs of the house for evil. So, they thought it better to leave the prophecy elsewhere in a continent untouched by the events in Ghurim. Upon the tenth day, the abjurationists wards crumbled entirely, and Xor fell upon the fortress. Therein, a legendary bout took place at the throne chamber of the elven citadel. Ice and fire clashed as Do’mathra, the guildmaster of the Ghurim mages guild fought valiantly against the fires of Horga Xor. Do’Mathra, despite his renowned ice spear technique was quickly overcame by Horgas firestorm and was turned to ash before all eyes which bore the duel. The dissenters who remained quickly surrendered or fell swiftly to the sword and sorcery of house Xor’s scions. Almaris and Beyond… After discovering five emissaries had been sent out of the fortress a day before its falling, Horga Xor personally sent 10 skilled agents to track down these youngsters, capture them, and bring the transcription of the elven prophecy back to Ghurim. A journey begins… Edited July 6, 2022 by Booklight12 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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